Many of my secular friends are having a hard time coping with Pope Francis, and I understand why. He’s an enigma. We’ve all borne witness to the likes of Pope Benedict, whose status as a theologian was overshadowed by his callous attitude and many missteps.

Pope Francis is in some ways Benedict’s polar opposite. Being a Jesuit—the first ever to hold a Papal tenure—he is humble, attempts to live a simplified life, and understands the plight of the impoverished. He goes out at night and takes care of the sickly. He finds humility to be a worthwhile attribute so much that he refuses to stay in the expensive Papal suite. He gives up the Pope Mobile for an antique. He speaks out against Capitalism. He walks the walk… even literally.

Meanwhile, Benedict’s tenure saw scandals galore: money laundering at the hands of the Vatican bank played into the notion of a Vatican City awash in Capitalism rather than the ethical behavior one expects to find at the Holy See. He fumbled—like Bush did with FEMA during Katrina—when it came to dealing with allegations of pedophilia in the clergy. We witnessed the proclaimed center of Catholic morality, including god’s chosen witness on earth, fall into corruption.

Rightly the secular masses are somewhat skeptical—why Francis to replace Benedict? Is this the new face of Catholicism or just the guy they are using to spin the church right before they fall back into corruption once he is gone—like a placeholder for the second coming of Ratzinger? Frankly, I don’t believe the highly-conservative heads of the College of Cardinals would have cast their votes for someone like Francis if they knew he was going to turn as many heads as he has; they have never cared about public opinion before and I doubt highly that they had a change of heart about it. So the conspiracy theories that Francis is a Publicity Stunt for a dying church is growing a little tiresome.

But while there are your typical conspiracy nuts out there (especially those who just flat out hate religion, or just Catholicism in general), other secular individuals are just downright impractical. They want Francis to allow women priests, to open up the doors to gay marriage in catholic churches, and if he doesn’t heed their demands, well, then he’s a terrible nonliberal, who does not belong in his position of authority.

Let me be clear: I’m not an atheist, yet nor am I a Catholic (in the practicing sense, but I do believe in a supreme being). But I was a Catholic—raised into the faith and traditions and the shame (as every good Catholic, even former Catholics, knows well)—and so I am sympathetic towards Catholicism. For me, even as an Apostate, Catholicism represents the earliest, most ‘accurate’ variant of what might be considered ‘actual’ Christianity; that is to say, it represents, to the best of its ability, the oldest continuing sect of what came from the Romanization of the dogmatic eschatological traditions of the 4th Century (which had already changed dramatically—perhaps almost entirely—from the initial post-Easter kerygma). I’ve got a bias and I know it.

Yes, I do think that the Magdalene Laundries were horrific. Yes, I think the Crusades were unfortunate and a tragedy—especially for Muslims and Jews. And, absolutely, I agree with anyone who thinks that every priest who has sexually assaulted or abused another human being—whether that be a child or a woman or a man—should be tarred and feathered and stuck out in the gallows at which people to throw rotten food. And yet somehow I can’t think of a reason why I should let these terrible and historic events overshadow the present.

I’m not going to sit here and tell you all not to judge the people, or even people in general, because I think that is unrealistic. Our world wouldn’t run if people weren’t judged by other people (it makes more sense the longer you think about it). But maybe I’m just a stickler for judging individuals based upon their circumstances and context rather than taking the whole institution as a whole. Maybe I don’t want to hold Francis responsible for the sins of his church fathers.

Would it be awesome if women were allowed into a priestly role? Yes. Shouldn’t the church allow gay marriages? It would certainly be great for all those practicing Catholics who are also gay and who love just as deeply as a straight Catholic. But let us be realistic here. That isn’t going to happen now. There are lines drawn in the sand. It is a glorious thing when a Pope decides that it is time to cross one of those lines, let alone several—but we cannot expect total reform. The Catholic church is a huge and ancient institution (which is a pleasant way of saying that parts of it are rather dated). Things must happen slowly in order to take hold.

Granted, Francis is accountable for his own actions, in his own time (presently), in the broader context of the current state of the church. And right now they are the actions of a decent man trying to desperately to teach his fellow Christians how to ‘Christian’ correctly—at least the way he sees as ‘correct’. Given his predecessors, that is a tremendous leap forward. We should take that for what it is and be grateful. Any man who risks his own life to sneak out and feed the poor—especially after angering so many dangerous people—is a man who is heroic. When was the last time we had such a Pope? That is why I support him. Dimidium facti qui coepit habet. Given time, it is my thinking that his accomplishments will be the light which shines the path for those who follow.

7 Responses

Nail on the head. I too (for what that’s actually worth) think he’s a great pope, even without the women priests and gay marriage. Hopefully those things are for the future; till then, I’ll take the current pontiff; anyone who speaks up for the poor is for me.

Tom, I find Francis to be a step up too and think that people that expect him to turn into Hans Kung unrealistic. I’m certainly not planning to convert and don’t find the papacy to be a source of inspiration or authority in my life, but still a step up. Expecting him to ordain women and bless gay marriages is like expecting your grandfather to be cool with smoking dope and fornication when your great grandfather dies.

I think your wrong on the Cardinals expectations though. While I don’t think Emperor Palpatine will be running the show from behind the curtain (but I have to confess to being very much in the dark on the workings of Vatican city) I do believe that the Cardinals would have had to have known the public details of Francis life and work. These guys aren’t drawn from a hat. When you know his past, his current direction is not surprising. When John Paul died, I recall all the pundits throwing out their fantasy pope picks like a black pope, or a very liberal pope and I recall thinking, “poppy cock, that conclave of 80 year old white men are going to pick another 80 year old white man” and I was right. this time was different. While it is possible that Ratzinger felt too old for the job, it is also possible that he felt pressured by the mounting scandals and his own personal unpopularity to quit. in light of his failure I think it makes sense that the cardinals would want a new direction and some fresh branding. Francis comes from a part of the world where the church is still vibrant and concern for the poor will help the churches standing in the third world along with western liberals who need to be mollified. John Paul was a good pope in his day, but the catholic world isn’t threatened by communist any more so the need to be lock step with right wingers is no longer important.